Massive list of exhibitors @ PAX’07

 

(list found @ Kotaku) 

Oh…….My…….God…….

I think I may have just shit myself. I can now officially say that I am now more hyped for PAX than I had ever been in the past. How is this possible, you ask?

The guys over @ PA have released a list of all the game companies that will be featuring exhibits over at this year’s expo. Guess how many there are? 30? no. 40? Higher. 512332? Okay, too high. There will be a grand total of 53 companies featuring as-yet unreleased games at the show, including Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft. The one I am personally most hyped for, however, is Harmonix. I really wanna get my hands on Rock Band.

Here’s the list:

Penny Arcade Expo ‘07 Triples Amount of Game Exhibits

Headliners include Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony and Ubisoft

Seattle, Washington – June 27, 2007 Penny Arcade today announced that exhibit space is sold out for its upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) gaming culture festival, officially tripling the size of exhibit space from previous years. The 4th annual event, which moved to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle this year in order to accommodate interest from both exhibitors and a rapidly growing number of attendees, is slated to take place August 24th-26th.

“We thought that by tripling the available exhibitor space, we’d have enough room for everybody. I guess we were wrong.” said Penny Arcade’s director of sales, Mike Fehlauer. “We do our best to throw a kickass party for the gamer community, and so we’re grateful-and relieved-that the response has been so positive. Exhibitors and attendees alike have decided that PAX is the show to attend; it’s the only place where you’ll find tabletop, console, and PC gamers and exhibitors-plus concerts, tournaments, panels, and freeplay-under the same roof, with no BS.”

On the exhibit floor, PAX ‘07 attendees can expect to try their hands at yet-to-be-released games and products from exhibitors including Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Mythic, Harmonix, Foundation 9, Sierra/Vivendi Universal, Wizards of the Coast, NCSoft, Sabertooth Games, D3 Publishing, Telltale Games, the Behemoth, Namco-Bandai, Upper Deck, Wizkids, Atari, ArenaNet, Hothead Games, America’s Army and Rockstar. (See below for a complete list of exhibitors this year) In addition to showing a multitude of pre-release games on its show floor, PAX offers attendees a host of game-related conference sessions, parties, concerts, tournaments and more!
Game publishers and developers interested in attending PAX 2008 should contact Mike Fehlauer at mikef@penny-arcade.com.

Complete List of Exhibitors for PAX 2007
1up.com
America’s Army
ArenaNet
Astro Gaming
Atari
The Behemoth
The Bungie Store!
CCP/Whitewolf
D3 Publishing
DeVry University
Digipen
Dolby
EA Mythic
The ECA
Fantasy Flight Games
Flying Lab Software
Foundation 9 Entertainment
Gamecock Media Group
GameTap
GameTrailers.com
Garage Games
Gas Powered Games
Green Ronin Publishing
The Guildhall
Harmonix
ITT Tech
Konami
Longbow Digital Arts
Metanet Software
Microsoft
Namco Bandai
Nintendo of America
Nvidia
Octopi
Paizo Publishing
Pink Godzilla
Privateer Press
Rockstar Games
Sabertooth Games
Sierra/Vivendi Games
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Strategy Computers
Sumo Lounge
Tablestar Games
Technomancer Press
Telltale Games
Tenacious Games
Turbine
Ubisoft
UDON Entertainment
Upper Deck Entertainment
Wizards of the Coast
Wizkids

/giddy laughter

–Kyle “Jastrick”

Pure WTF

Alrighty then. I’ve invented a new game. You take all the development studios in the world, and put their names into a hat. Then, you draw two names. Those two have to collaborate together to release a new game. Ready. ok?

First we have……..Bioware

and next we have………Sega.

 Alright then, Bioware and Sega must make a…………..Sonic RPG for the………Nintendo DS.

This is how I imagined that this game came into existence. Yes,  Bioware and Sega are making a Sonic RPG for the Nintendo DS. It may atually be…… decent? Aside from Sonic Rush (also for the DS), Sonic’s games have, well, sucked ass of late, with Secret Rings ,while still sucking, appeared to show some redemption to the series. I’m still confused on how this will play out, though. I keep imagining KotOR with Sonic the Hedgehog…….

–Kyle “Jastrick”

Manhunt 2 Homeless

Well, I think we all knew that Manhunt 2 was game that was going to be rife with controversy. Not even a day after the game was banned in Great Britan (an honour not bestowed upon any game since Carmageddon in 1997), as well as Ireland, Take Two interactive announced that the ESRB had given the game a preliminary rating of AO, Adults Only. The only problem with this, is that most retailers refuse to carry AO titles. However, an even more pressing matter is that both Nintendo and Sony have company policies that do not allow AO games to be released for their consoles. This was confirmed by them yesterday, effectively leaving Manhunt 2 homeless. I was worried about finding the game before

Not everyone is angry at this, however. This move by the ESRB (not prompted by activist groups AT ALL), is being praised by SOME PEOPLE (aka. JT) as proof that the system actually works. I guess the man had to get his word in edgewise, seeing as he cannot legally deride the game.

Rockstar now has 3 choices:

1. Port the game to the PC

2. Kill of Manhunt 2

3. Tame the game down a bit

My guess is that they’ll go with #3. Although, I think it would be hilarious that after all this controversy, it would turn out that the game completely sucked.

–Kyle “Jastrick”

Old School/New School: The Prince of Inspiration

There’s a widely-held opinion within the gaming fellowship that without Jordan Mechner’s classic platformer, Lara Croft wouldn’t have a job. Tomb Raider was the adaptation of Prince of Persia the way Fight Club as a movie was to its literary predecessor—providing dimensions to its characters and gravitas to its themes. Even now as Tomb Raider: Anniversary—Crystal Dynamics’ modern-day remake of the original money maker—hits store shelves, it is still quite obviously influenced by the Sands of Time trilogy’s wall-running defiance of gravity that David Belle’s Parkour made so iconic.

But modern day platforming isn’t the only facet of media that has been amazed and inspired by Mechner’s work. Much like his first game, Karateka—a popular mid-80’s fighting game now completely forgotten—Prince of Persia was considered an outstanding graphical achievement due to Mechner’s use of rotoscoping—having his brother David jump around like a madman to get the animations just right.

Now, after 18 years, Ubisoft has once again re-imagined this poor man’s 1,001 Nights tale, keeping the core game completely intact while updating the graphics, making PoP: Classic the single best looking XLBA game so far—yes, better than Geometry Wars. And while the game is shiny, it’s that core gameplay that make it both addicting as hell and super frustrating. The levels are deep, and actually make much more sense with a graphical upgrade. But the game has to be completed in 60 minutes, or you’re toast—and there’s no Andy Roony to cheer you on or give you a motivational commentary. The time limit is a complete bugger, and sometimes balancing beating the clock, beating traps, and beating foes can become infuriating. But all of that gives it that undefinable je ne sais quoi you feel when you know you’re playing a classic.

Peace

— Persopolian

“It’s like comparing a night of non-stop sex to a day where you masturbate alot…”

Look at that, Half-Life 2: Orange Box has a release date. How quaint.

While I try to keep the flaming to the minimum, I gotta say, I’m still pretty pissed at Valve. It’s one of the few times I hate being right. When they first announced that what was then Half-Life 2: Aftermath would be going episodic, I said it would never work. I called that they would miss their deadline completely. Then Valve released Episode One—and though it was about a month late, they stuck close enough to their promise to give me hope. They promised Episode two within six months, and for a moment, I believed. I held out. I defended. I was a trooper.

I was duped.

So here we are, a year and some time later, and October is the date they come up with. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure Episode 2 will be amazing. I can almost guarantee that as soon as I’m done with it, I’ll look at GTA IV and think, what would the Free Man do? Portal and Team Fortress will most likely be stellar titles as well. I don’t doubt the quality of the work. I just wish it was going to last me longer than a day. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, I would have rather waited the two-and-some years for Half-Life 2: Aftermath as a complete package. What’s the difference? The title of this post says it all.

P.S: I think I’m back on the writing hump, so expect an Odin Sphere review soon, and definitely some commentary (not review) on PoP: Classic

So long Halo 3, you shall be missed

Well, for those of you who dont know, the Halo 3 beta officially ended last night. I am sad now. I have to wait until September 25th to hear annoying squeaky-voiced swears. Waitaminute…. maybe this isnt too bad. Well, whatevs, I’m now interested to see how many copies of Crackdown get turned into Gamestop, EB, or other used game shops.

–Kyle “Jastrick”